Breaking Tradition
by franklyalex
Summary: Princess Isabel Schreave, the daughter of Maxon and America, will probably marry another prince that she will have no interest in marrying. But, she wants to be able to fall in love and choose her own husband. When King Maxon allows her to have her own Selection and break tradition what will happen? Who will she meet? Who will she fall in love with? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**DiSClAiMER: I do not own The Selection. All rights go to Kiera Cass.**

Chapter One

Looking out at the gardens made me feel calmer. Almost like everything was at peace, but it always seemed to hit me once I looked at the roses that circled the fountain, that not everything is peaceful at all. Everything was actually unpredictable. I hated change and I hated probably having to share my life with someone that I don't even know. My father had a bunch of nations wanting me as their new princess and soon to be queen. He also still had alliances to hold and other kings that could call war on our nation at any moment. Princes in other nations needed a royal wife, I unfortunately did not want to be someone's princess because our fathers made an agreement. I wanted to fall in love and go on dates. I wanted a relationship with someone who wanted me as much as I wanted them. That's when I realized maybe I could do something about it. I had to calm down before I came to my dad with the idea; I mean he was the King of Illea. My mom tried to make a change and she wasn't even queen yet at the time. I had to be able to be the princess that my mom had become or at how she tried to become. Everyone knew that my mom, Queen America, was definitely not like any other winner of the Selection. She was one of the lower castes before the Selection, so she didn't really have a royal background. She still wore jeans around the palace when we weren't expecting anyone and she acted like she didn't need help as if she wasn't the new queen.

I needed to be the royal Princess Isabel Schreave that everyone knew and loved. This is what I was going to do. I wanted to have my own Selection like my dad did. I mean he didn't have to get married to some person he didn't know. Even though he was probably forced to have his own Selection just like grandfather did. I turned away from the window and looked at the door. It was just a big white door with gold outlines around it. It didn't move, it wasn't going to attack me but it still felt like an enemy waiting to attack. Slowly, I walked toward the door. Thank goodness today we weren't expecting anyone. My mother said that sometimes I should just have a relaxing day too where I didn't have to wear frilly dresses all time. So, I was jeans and a white tee shirt. My hair wasn't done all up pretty and I had no make-up on either, which was a relief since I hated make-up the most. When I had finally gotten to the door I held the handle for a moment. I rethought what I was going to say. Should I be like every other princess and marry off into another royal family who I haven't met or find a guy who I truly love? I shoved open the door and pushed myself to walk down the hallway as fast as I could so I had a less of a chance to turn back. When I reached my parents door, usually I would've sent someone to notify my parents that I would be seeing them but this was urgent. I knocked on their door. My mother had answered with her wild red hair a mess and her shirt wrinkled, she must've been sleeping. Then my father came into view with his hair also a mess.

"Hi honey, is something wrong?" Queen America said.

"No mom, it's just that I have something I've been wanting to ask you both so I thought maybe right now would be a great time." I said while my hands still shook at my sides.

"Of course. Come in, sit down." My mom told me. My dad had kept shooting my mother glances. My dad never wanted to be interrupted when he slept, but he was also very understanding so it didn't matter at this point. I walked in and looked around at their room. It still looked that same with red wallpaper and silver cushions. I sat down at a chair facing them. They looked concerned. I didn't really barge into places. I'm mostly quiet and conservative.

"I've been thinking a lot about marriage and how I will probably be forced into marrying someone I have no interest in and I wanted know if maybe instead of me being married off into another family, if I could have a Selection?" I had tried to say it as quickly as possible so I didn't chicken out but I also tried to sound as confident as I could so they knew I was serious. It was a lot harder telling that to my parents then I thought. My father's reaction went from being concerned to being surprised. I was more nervous than I have ever been.

"Well, I think that maybe we could do that. Right honey?" My mom asked my dad. She was using her pretty please face that she used from time to time so that he could never say no.

"I suppose so. Even though that would break tradition and probably get other nations to be furious, but of course Isabel. Whatever would make you happy." He said to me with a smile. He helped me out of my chair and hugged me. My mother soon joined the hug. I laughed into my dad's shirt and he squeezed me tightly. When we all finally pulled away, my dad kissed me on the forehead.

"We will talk about the details tomorrow, so get a good night sleep dearest." My father said. My mother and I exchanged goodbyes and I left their room closing their door shut. I now was too exhausted to even sleep so I decided not to go to my room and instead go to the garden where I could finally be at peace.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all of the reviews about the first chapter! It really means a lot! Here is the next chapter, hope you like it as much as the first! :) **

**DiSCLAiMER: I do not own the Selection Characters. All rights belong to Kiera Cass.**

Chapter 2

Entering the gardens was a breath of fresh air. It had a familiar feeling that I usually didn't feel while doing regular everyday activities. I glanced behind me to make sure no guards had followed me. I just wanted to be alone with no one to ruin the moment. When I realized that no one had followed me, I began to make my way down the stone path. My mom had told me that she and dad had met in this garden. She was the first one he actually saw in real life. Love at first sight he had put it. I smiled at this thought and kept walking.

As I reached the center of the garden, the flowers began to become more vibrant and beautiful. I stopped in front of a bench and sat down. I took in the scent of the wonderful scenery that surrounded me. It smelled of course like flowers, but in this case it had a sweeter and tangier scent. I began to become very tired while looking at the stars and the flowers. Maybe dad was right, I should go to sleep a little early. I started to drift off into a calm sleep. The breeze seemed to rock me as if I was in a cradle. I didn't want to sleep though, but I knew my body couldn't stay up any longer. Besides, I had a very big day tomorrow. My own Selection. I couldn't even begin to think about how crazy this idea had been.

I finally stood up and brushed off my jeans of any pollen that had gotten on them. I began walking down the stone path to the entrance of the castle. The castle seemed different and more radiant at night. It was just breath-taking. When my gaze finally left the castle, I turned to look back at the garden when suddenly someone ran into me. I fell to the ground and looked up as quickly as I could. When I looked up I saw a boy in dirty clothes and a mask. I was so scared but then I looked at his appearance. I only saw his eyes and his hair. Oh, his hair was brown, but then it seemed blonde. It was so handsome. His eyes were a dreamy bright green. It was a bright as the sun and as green as the grass. He looked like the most gorgeous human being I had ever seen in my life even though he had on a mask. I then noticed what he was holding something though. He was holding a bag. It wasn't just any bag, it was full of something. I finally registered that there was hole just at the top of the bag. I looked inside and saw that it was full of gold and silver. He had stolen this. Stolen from my family, which didn't really hurt us because of our wealth but it didn't change the fact someone had come into my home and violated my privacy. He then realized who I was. His eyes went from determined to horrified. Completely scared, he spoke to me.

"I am so sorry. Please forgive me Princess Isabel." He had told me. His voice sounded like something out of a harmony. He was brilliant; even though I hadn't even said anything to him. He started to notice what I was looking at. He quickly covered it up and gave me a nervous smile.

"What are you doing with that gold and silver?" I asked him with a serious and even scary tone. I had no idea I could even talk this way. I probably looked like a mess with no hair and make-up done but I didn't care. I felt like I could take on anyone by just using my words.

"I-It's not wh-what it looks l-like," he stuttered. He then broke down. A boy who had seemed 18 years old had started crying. "I just needed this gold and silver for my family. We are sixes and we barely have enough to go by and it's hard to starve while the rest of your family eats. Please don't tell anyone I will just go put it back. I swear." He finished saying to me. I knew he was sincere. No wonder my mother wanted the castes gone. It was hard not having the luxury of eating a good meal every day. Tears streaked his mask. He just held out his hand. I took his hand and he helped me up.

"It's okay, but it isn't right to steal." I had finally said back to him. I then suddenly did something I thought I would never do. "Take the money and feed your family. You need more money than I do or my family does. Take it and buy as much food to support your family." As I said it, it almost felt unreal. As if this all were a dream and I was just going through the motions. His eyes finally relaxed and had seemed to stop crying.

"Thank you so much princess. I am in your debt. I hope that one day I will be able to repay you." He suddenly lifted up his mask and stared at me in the eyes. He was as beautiful as I pictured him under his mask. He then took my chin and kissed me. I stiffened and didn't know whether to shove him away or to just relax and kiss him back. His lips were sweet and salty from his tears. They were so soft and I just wanted more. It hit me that I had just met him and shouldn't be kissing him, but he was already kissing me though. A complete stranger was kissing me. This was my first kiss; I didn't know how to react. It didn't seem like a big deal because I felt like I was under his spell somehow and finally I kissed him back. My arms slid around his neck so I could continue kissing him. I pulled away realizing what I had done. He then threw me a mischievous smile.

"Thank you again, princess." He said as he began walking away from me. He just left me. He left me alone after my first kiss. He didn't know it was my first kiss but he still left me alone. In that moment, I didn't feel like I would've thought I would after my first kiss. Instead I had never felt lonelier.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you guys sooooo much for the favs, the follows, and the reviews! I love how you guys encourage me to continue writing! So enjoy the wonderful 3****RD ****chapter!**

**DiSCLAiMER: I do not own the characters of The Selection. All rights go to Kiera Cass.**

Chapter 3

Walking back up to my room, I could feel the tears coming to my eyes. I told myself not to cry until I could make it to my room. Stumbling up the stairs, I finally made it to my door. I grasped the cold handle. Cold like that robber's heart. Why was I acting like this? I was being so mean. Making worthless assumptions about a guy I just met. I didn't even believe in love at first sight so I definitely knew that I wasn't in love with a stranger. Sobbing into my pillow, I heard a knock at the door; I got up not even trying to clean up my puffy red eyes. I knew who it was. When I opened the door all I saw was a dark figure but in an instant the dark figure had picked me up and twirled me around.

"Bennett put me down!" I giggled as he started twirling me around even faster. I started to make fake barfing sounds so he would put me down. When he did, he gave me a smile.

"Hey missy! What's with the tears?" A concerned look on his face appeared as he said those words. He had always been the type of person who would comfort me in a situation. He was my best friend, so like all best friends he would come whenever he knew I was in a sad mood. I didn't even know how he knew when I was sad. He just seemed to always be there.

"No it's nothing. I just am so happy." I played it off as tears of joy. I knew it was definitely not tears of joy. He probably didn't believe me, but his face seemed to believe me. I kept pretending and I laughed.

"What makes you so happy, Bel?" I couldn't help but smile when he said my nickname. He always had that nickname for me. I could never come up with a nickname for him. He was always a plain and quiet type of guy, nothing was out of the ordinary about him. He had stormy gray eyes and sandy blond hair. He was always just Bennett, except he became my main guard. During his junior training, I had always been lonely so I would watch their sessions and when I spotted a boy who almost tripped and fell into the lake behind the castle I knew we would be best friends. I was a kooky person according to Bennett. He said I was like his match, but we're just friends. I always thought of him as a brother not a boyfriend. I may have had feelings for him when I was younger, but I grew up and realized that me and him were just not meant to be.

"Well you know how I was going completely crazy about how I was so gonna get married to some wannabe jerk of a prince?" He nodded. "Well I was thinking, and I asked my dad if I could have my own Selection. He said yes!" I yelled. Bennett's eyes perked up. He grinned.

"Well Miss Princess, then we have to celebrate don't we?" When we were smaller, me and him would always sneak into the kitchen when no one was there and steal the entire ice cream stock in the freezer. We usually got shipments in each day so it didn't matter but we still had fun!

"Ice cream?" He questioned.

"Ice cream." I said in reply. He picked me up and carried me over his shoulder. He then shushed me to be quiet even though I hadn't said a word and quickly tip-toed out of my room and into the hallway. He went down the stairwell and into the passage that lead to the kitchen. He set me down and motioned me toward the big freezer. I put in my fingerprint on a pad and a cool breeze struck my body as the door opened. I shivered and smiled. I felt a rush that I was familiar too.

"Now come on crazy. There's no need to wait to get ice cream, let's dig in!" Bennett was smiling from ear to ear. We hadn't even found the ice cream yet. They had probably changed the place where they put it from last time. He wandered into the cold darkness before me.

"Bennett, you idiot. You forgot to turn on the light. What's the point if you can't see! You're probably going to be attacked by monsters or maybe even worse, GHOSTS." I laughed when I tried to get out the words. When Bennett and I were younger, he used to be only terrified of one thing. That one thing was ghosts. I used to always brag about how I was a big kid and ghosts weren't real. To him though, ghosts were the most real thing ever and he was proud to say he was afraid too. During my 12 year birthday week, I had decided to have our annual hide-and-seek game which we do only once a year, where I would try and find him while he was trying to find me. Which when I think about it now, it seems stupid, but we were young so it doesn't matter. Anyways, I had decided to put on a white sheet and chase him around when he wasn't looking during the game. After he finally noticed me, he screamed and peed his pants. Now, I always use that against him.

"Bennett?" I called out. He still hadn't answered. I repeated myself again and again for a good minute until finally I just turned on the light. I thought by turning it on I would see him, but I didn't so I decided to look for him. The freezer wasn't that big so it wouldn't be hard. I walked in slowly not wanting to trip and fall over something. I rounded the metal table that was in center when out of the corner of my eye I saw something. When looked again, nothing appeared. As I turned around though, I was suddenly grabbed. I screamed into the person's hand that was on my mouth. Then I started to hear laughter.

"Oh my goodness, princess. That was the funniest thing I have seen. Your face was so scared and when my hand grabbed you, you freaked out." Bennett could not stop laughing and imitating my face. I could feel my cheeks turn red. I was embarrassed. I never really was embarrassed when things happened, I just felt uncomfortable. In this case though, I was also mad.

"Bennett, you can't just go and scare someone like that!" I exclaimed.

"And it was perfectly okay for you to do it to me when I was younger? I just feel like I was getting even." He could not stop smiling.

"Whatever let's just go get ice cream." I said. I was still kind of embarrassed but mostly annoyed. He looked at me with his mouth formed into a frown. I couldn't help but laugh. He was pain but he knew how to make me feel better.


	4. Chapter 4

**8 follows and 5 reviews! It means a lot to know that some people actually read my stuff. Thanks for the good vibes I'm getting from your guys' comments! Enjoy! xxx**

**DiSCLAiMER: I don't own anything from the Selection all rights go to Kiera Cass.**

Chapter 4

After eating what seemed like 18 tons of ice cream, Bennett had walked me back to my room. We stopped in front of my bedroom door and as I turned toward him, I caught a smile that was quickly wiped away from his face. I cleared my throat.

"Well that was fun. I'm kind of tired though, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe we could go on another late night adventure." I told him.

"I guess so Miss Bel." I smiled as he hugged me. His hugs were always so warm. It was like a giant bear hug of happiness. He smelt great too, like honeysuckle and jasmine. Must've been the body wash because most of the guards smelled like that. His hands finally let go of me and he gave me a wink. I giggled and before I could stop myself I kissed him on the cheek. It kind of just felt natural. Suddenly, embarrassment rushed over me like a wave when I realized what I had just done. I didn't move as quickly as I should have because I thought if I did I might fall down. I was dizzy. Maybe it was because I was tired. It took all the power within me to move my lips from his cheek. I couldn't quite process how awkward this situation was, so I gave him a quick smile before grabbing the handle of my door and closing it shut behind me. I was such an idiot; he must think I'm crazy or maybe he feels joyful or just kind of confused. I was kind of disappointed in myself because I was just heartbroken and I had to leave Bennett guessing on what a kiss on the cheek meant. I mean it was a kiss on the cheek. It wasn't like I shoved my tongue down his throat. I am just overreacting I told myself. He probably thinks I do this with all the guys I meet, except he has been with me all the time to protect me while meeting all of the boys. He definitely knows I haven't kissed them on the cheek, that's for sure.

Come on, let's get going to bed, I told myself. I didn't even bother putting on pajamas. I was too tired and I didn't want to have another freak out session over how many stupid things I've done today. I got under the covers and snuggled my head into the pillows. Not even a second went by until I was fast asleep.

**Next Morning**

I never had my maids wake me up because I felt that I needed my natural beauty sleep. My parents roll their eyes every time they heard me say that. They said that I was a drama queen and that if I wanted to become a real queen I would have to wake up on time for events and council meetings. I just told them that I was not becoming a queen yet so for now it was fine. They never argued with me because what a foolish thing to even fight over. They knew that I was never going to be woken up early even if maids came into my room and shoved me out of bed. When I woke up today, I definitely didn't feel like I had my beauty sleep. I felt more like I hit my head a gazillion times against a metal wall. I began to sit up and automatically I regretted it because my head was in pain. I didn't want to get the phone to call my maids because I was too lazy to tell them I was awake and I needed them to get me headache reliever, so I just did the only thing I could also do.

"Bennett! Bennett!" I yelled. Instantly I heard the door swing open. I looked up and saw Bennett with his sword drawn and his feet in a fighting stance. His eyes were wide and his mouth was in a thin line. He looked as if he could kill someone in an instant. He also looked like a psychopath who hadn't slept in 12 hours too, but he probably didn't care about appearance as long as he was keeping me safe. When he looked at me, he registered the fact that I was not in danger and I was not dying because someone shot me. He finally let out a breath that he must've been holding in.

"Bel, you are crazy you know that right?" He smiled slightly as he got out of his fighting stance.

"Yeah I know. Can you call my maids to get me headache reliever?" I asked him with a look that he knew that if he refused I would attack him.

"Alright missy. You can cranky all you want but you need to be nicer." I knew he was joking. He was probably tired because he usually would have gone back to his room and showered before having his night shift. He was wearing the same uniform from yesterday, because he had a faint vanilla ice cream stain on his right sleeve so that's how I knew.

"Boo hoo, that hurt my feelings. Please just do it." He moved to the phone and typed in the number for the maid section. He then talked to the head maid to get my maids to bring some headache reliever. Once he set the phone down, I patted the spot next to me on my bed. Instead of sitting next to me, he excused himself which was odd because he would usually sit next to me and wait for them.

"Where are you going?" I asked him. He turned around toward me and gave me a nervous look.

"Oh. I'm just going back outside, Princess." Then without even waiting for a reply he walked out of my room. It was like he was all happy and everything was the same and then all of the sudden he was a robot. It was strange. I then remembered though that I had kissed him on the cheek yesterday. Maybe sitting on my bed made him uncomfortable. I screwed this up too. Crap.


End file.
